Got challenged on steel quality in axes and mauls...

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akkamaan

akkamaan

New Member
Apr 16, 2015
83
Port Angeles WA
www.akkamaan.com
Today I found a Youtube video with this "Wranglerstar" guy. He was comparing the Fiskars X27 with his 7 lbs maul. You can watch the video here, there is nothing wrong with his casual testing, other than it is a too small sample of logs to make any serious conclusions. But that's OK, it is up to the viewers to make their own conclusions.

But one thing bothered me a bit. 17 seconds into the video, he shows the edge of the Fiskars, that have quite a few dents. After the testing, about 3min34 sec into the video he concludes that the Fiskars have poor steel quality, referring to the dents in the edge that was there before the testing started.
His result of the might have surprised him, so he grabbed the last straw he could, to make the review favor the maul.

So now I challenged myself, to sharpen my own Fiskars Super Splitter #7854, so I can shave the hair off my arm with the edge. Now I haven't gotten that far yet because I couldn't find my honing stones.
But I gave it a good start with a fine flat file and my kitchen knife sharpener.
edge_F4.jpg
Had to remove the two red small wheels to make space for the axe edge.

I started with putting the axe in a shop wise and started shaping the edge a little less 1/4" wide and make sure all dings and dents were removed. On top of that I worked the edge with the kitchen sharpener.
edge_F2.jpg edge_F3.jpg edge_F1.jpg

I obviously failed to see that there was one dent left on the edge....
edge_F6.jpg
But just for splitting purposes, I am more than happy with the result.
edge_F5.jpg

Now I just need to get going with part two, the razor sharpness for shaving

Part three will be shaving with my maul....
 
akkamaan said:
But one thing bothered me a bit. 17 seconds into the video, he shows the edge of the Fiskars, that have quite a few dents. After the testing, about 3min34 sec into the video he concludes that the Fiskars have poor steel quality, referring to the dents in the edge that was there before the testing started.
His result of the might have surprised him, so he grabbed the last straw he could, to make the review favor the maul.
Click to expand...

What exactly is his incentive to favor the maul? It's not possible for him to prefer it over the Fiskars?
 
claydogg84 said:
What exactly is his incentive to favor the maul? It's not possible for him to prefer it over the Fiskars?
Click to expand...

He has cornered himself as the old fashioned guy that likes the old traditional tools, wooden handle, vintage etc. I do not have a problem with that part. But he should back up his biased comments when they are taken out f the blue. He also made another totally biased comment (Youtube comment field), "I do doubt my body will hold up to the poor handle design".
I think his incentive is to convince his followers once again believe he is right in his conclusions. If you read some of the Youtube comments, you can see that there is more than one that questions his objectivity.
 
akkamaan said:
He has cornered himself as the old fashioned guy that likes the old traditional tools, wooden handle, vintage etc. I do not have a problem with that part. But he should back up his biased comments when they are taken out f the blue. He also made another totally biased comment (Youtube comment field), "I do doubt my body will hold up to the poor handle design".
I think his incentive is to convince his followers once again believe he is right in his conclusions. If you read some of the Youtube comments, you can see that there is more than one that questions his objectivity.
Click to expand...

I think the contrary actually - You seem to want to convince followers that the Fiskars is superior.
 
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Some think the Fiskars is superior and some think an 8 lb maul is superior. Everyone has an opinion and a preference. Nothing wrong with stating opinions and preferences as this is an open forum. I've noticed from another thread that you guys like to jab at one another.
 
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I'm always amused by people who care whether people agree with their assessment of the best tool for any job.

My hammer is better than your hammer.
 
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I do not have a problem with people liking or preferring what they want. But bold statements about bad steel quality or poor handle design, should at least be backed up with some objective arguments. I do not mind if someone do not like Fiskars, or don not like Fiskars steel quality, or do not like the handle design. But calling it "bad" or "poor", should be backed up if asked to....
But in most forums and social media, "bad" or "poor" seems many times to be the only, or at least the last remaining bullet in the barrel when there is no more ammo left...
 
akkamaan said:
Interesting that no one seems interested in commenting the "facts" about sharpening my Fiskars..._g
Click to expand...

Being able to sharpen a saw chain, splitting tool or kitchen knife to razor blade sharp has little to nothing to do with the "quality" of the steel. The word "quality" itself is subject to debate based off of the intended use. And I can sharpen a cheap chefs knife to the same sharpness as one of my Wustof knives. Its how the steel holds up in its intended environment that should be the determining factor.

And for the record - I have heard way more complaints about the soft steel being used in the fiskars than I ever have heard about old skool mauls.

As a hydro user I don't have a dog in this hunt and I don't have a Rockwell tester to use for factual testing so simply take this as one dudes opinion.
 
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KenLockett said:
Some think the Fiskars is superior and some think an 8 lb maul is superior. Everyone has an opinion and a preference. Nothing wrong with stating opinions and preferences as this is an open forum. I've noticed from another thread that you guys like to jab at one another.
Click to expand...

I agree, there is nothing wrong with stating your personal preference. I just thought it was interesting that akka implied the author of the video had a vested interest in saying he preferred the older maul. Some will like the Fiskars, and some will enjoy using their older mauls. My main point was that I hardly doubt this man would have gone out of his way to tarnish the good name of the Fiskars. I'm sure it's a great tool, but like Jags, I'm a hydraulic guy myself, so I doubt I'll have get the chance to use one.
 
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You know what is funny Claydogg, I am 49 with persistent tendinitis of the elbow and have an almost brand new Huskee 22 ton log splitter but almost exclusively use my fiskars and maul for splitting. I just seem to enjoy it so much more. Thought when I got the hydraulics I would no longer want to split but is actually the opposite. Only use the hydraulics for the pile of absolutely gnarly stuff that I struggle with using the fiskars or maul. For what it is worth, splitting is easier with the fiskars but when after 2-3 whacks with the fiskars the head is just sticking in the round, I use the maul to finish it off. Works for me. I have the fiskars to the left of me and the maul to the right of me. Split 3.5 cords so far this spring and with 10 cords stacked in the paddock and 3.5 in a pile in the barn yet to be stacked I am running out of room. Probably a good break for my elbow. Thing is I have so much scrounge available based upon permissions I feel compelled to keep going. Still skiing at Killington this weekend but the urge to keep scrounging and splitting still with me!
 
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By the way, yes the steel on the Fiskars seems to be soft and prone to nicks, gouge, etc. UNLESS, you keep it in the wood whereas holds an edge very well IMO. If I do get a nick here or there, a flat file then the fiskars sharpener puts an edge right back on it. It has a lifetime warranty anyhow so even if I did really gouge the hell out of it I suppose I could attibute it to too soft metal and I presume fiskars would replace it. However, it basically seems indestructible to me and again IMO is very well balanced and overall less strain on my physique than the maul. Its all good though in the long run.
 
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I like Akk's scientific and technical approach to analyzing these things. Refreshing here on this kind of forum, especially regarding stuff that's normally overlooked because it's hard to study and quantify.

Double blind placebo controlled long term log jack and hookaroon study is what we need next. I'll volunteer my monster homemade log jack and put it up against any factory made jack for comparison....
 
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I have no idea what good steel is for a maul. Do I care about hardness or toughness or what kind of balance between them?
What I do know is that twit hates anything more modern than a tool made 50 years ago and it comes out loud and clear in his videos. He is all about traditional tools, not usefulness. If you can't put a wooden handle on a tool it is junk in his estimation.
 
Oldman47 said:
I have no idea what good steel is for a maul. Do I care about hardness or toughness or what kind of balance between them?
What I do know is that twit hates anything more modern than a tool made 50 years ago and it comes out loud and clear in his videos. He is all about traditional tools, not usefulness. If you can't put a wooden handle on a tool it is junk in his estimation.
Click to expand...

Kind of a Darth Vader to Roy Underhill's Luke Skywalker, eh? He's given himself to the Dark Side of old tool enthusiasm.
 
Ashful said:
I'm always amused by people who care whether people agree with their assessment of the best tool for any job.

My hammer is better than your hammer.
Click to expand...

I can pretty well guaranty that your hammer is better than mine. There is a manufacturers defect in my hammer, as it consistently hits my thumb when I use it.
 
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I've never tried the Fiskars, but at a minimum, my preference is wooden handles. My experience with hammers of both wood and fiberglass strongly favors wood, so I stuck with that when I bought my maul.

Keeping a sharp edge on the maul has never been a priority for me. The wedging action seems more important to me for splitting than the sharpness of the leading edge. Axes are different though. You need a sharp edge to cut across the grain.

I could see the narrower sledge side being an advantage when I'm driving a wedge into a really tough piece of wood. My maul is slightly wider than my wedge. Just last night I had the wedge buried 3" below the top of the log before a knot in the bottom finally let go. I was definitely wasting energy smashing wood with the maul on each swing to reach the wedge.

KenLockett said:
I am 49 with persistent tendinitis of the elbow and have an almost brand new Huskee 22 ton log splitter but almost exclusively use my fiskars and maul for splitting. I just seem to enjoy it so much more.
Click to expand...

I don't have a hydraulic splitter, but I understand where you're coming from. Splitting wood is therapeutic for me. If I'm having a bad day, I usually feel better after a couple rounds.
 
I used to go through a wooden or fiberglass maul just about every other year. I've had the Fiskers now for 4 years and couldn't be happier. It splits great, is lightweight (less tiring), and virtually indestructible. If it took me that many swings to split one straight-grained round as it does for him in the video, I think I'd go with a log splitter.
 
I just watched the video - the guy over swings and is horribly inaccurate with both splitting tools, then he has the gall to to disparage the Fiskars handle claiming something about vibration all while not wearing gloves. Idiot. . .
 
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